Stories about in vitro fertilization, biodiversity, the effects of global warming in the Arctic and in Colorado, and the worldwide effects of a flu pandemic are the subjects of this year's winners of the Science in Society award, which is conferred by the National Association of Science Writers (NASW).
Science in Society Awards
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The Science in Society Journalism Awards provide recognition for investigative or interpretive reporting about the sciences and their impact on society and are funded by the National Association of Science Writers without subsidy from any professional or commercial interest. Cash prizes are awarded and entries are open to all and free for members. The most recently updated rules are available on this page. The awards are open for submissions from Dec. 1 to Feb. 1 each year.
Winners include a history of in vitro fertilization that draws parallels with current controversies over human cloning and stem-cell research; a documentary on how the melting of the Arctic is affecting travel, business opportunities, and international diplomacy; an analysis of the danger of an avian influenza pandemic, drawing on the lessons of the devastating 1918 flu epidemic; and a vivid account of the effect of climate change on the Colorado Rockies.
Winning entries explore research into manipulating human cells to give them capabilities they did not have before; the ethics and practicalities of administering drugs to prevent painful memories from forming in people who have experienced a trauma; the health and environmental effects of nanotechnology; and the ethical, legal, and social dilemmas raised by new life technologies.
Controversial biomedical subjects — cloning, stem cells, abortion, a breast-cancer study that went awry — are among the winning entries in the 2003 Science in Society Awards.
The frontiers of human reproduction, the search for an AIDS vaccine, evolution, the challenge of obesity, engineering feats, the perils of e-junk, and a personal search for one reporter’s genetic roots are the subjects of this year’s best reporting on how science impacts society, as reflected in the 2002 Science in Society awards.
Stories about the seriously flawed national flu vaccine program, the historic decoding of the human genome, the struggle to preserve the New England fish population, the inadequate science behind the country’s dietary fat dictates, troubling questions about depleted uranium lingering in former war zones, and the tantalizing potential of methane hydrates all earned top honors for journalists in the 2001 Science in Society Journalism Award.
Stories about a contentious set of 9,000-year-old human bones found in the Pacific Northwest, dauntless AIDS-prevention efforts targeting women in Africa, the complex scientific challenge of global warming, academic integrity in peril from commercially sponsored research, and the fight over genetically engineered food all earned top honors for journalists in the 2000 Science in Society Journalism Awards.
Winners include entries on the history of salt research and its conflicting findings, the struggles of Brookhaven National Laboratory and its surrounding community in light of environmental contamination from the prestigious lab’s research activities, and the relationship of science to current apocalyptic thinking spurred by the approaching new millennium.
Winning entries from Fortune, The Wall Street Journal, and PBS Frontline.